De Smet 2004

Methods	RCT Exp: Trapeziectomy with LRTI (FCR) C: Trapeziectomy
Participants	Age (mean): Exp/C = 61.5/58 Gender (female/male): Exp/C = 34:0/22:0 Stage of OA (mean): Exp/C = not reported
Interventions	Surgery Exp/C: Exp: Trapeziectomy with LRTI (using entire FCR). Mobilisation started within a week with no immobilisation. C: Trapeziectomy. Mobilisation started immediately.
Outcomes	Pain: Pain was scored on a 10 cm visual analogue scale (VAS). Physical function: The DASH (Disabilities Arm, Shoulder, Hand) was completed, with 0 = no disability and 100 = maximal disability. Patient global assessment: Not reported. Range of motion: The 'web angle' is reported for both groups and increased from 63.6 degrees to 84.8 degrees postoperatively. No between group comparisons were made. Strength: Key pinch and grip strength were reported as percentages of postoperative/preoperative scores. No raw scores were provided. Trapeziometacarpal joint imaging: The trapezial space was reported as a percentage of postoperative/preoperative scores. No raw scores were provided. Adverse events: Complications were not reported. One subject was considered a failure and not included in analysis at follow‐up.
Notes	Follow‐up of trapeziectomy group at mean of 34 months (9 to 84); follow‐up of trapeziectomy with LRTI group at mean of 26 months (9 to 54). We tried to contact a trial author. No further information was provided.
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Random sequence generation (selection bias)	Unclear risk	Quote: "the choice of procedure was at random".
Allocation concealment (selection bias)	Unclear risk	—
Blinding of participants and personnel (performance bias) All outcomes	Unclear risk	Comment: Unclear if participants or assessors were informed of surgery performed prior to final review.
Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias) Subjective outcomes (patient reported)	Unclear risk	Comment: Unclear if participants were informed of surgery performed prior to final review.
Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias) Objective outcomes	Unclear risk	Comment: Unclear if participants were informed of surgery prior to final review. We cannot exclude the possibility of observer bias in recording outcomes (e.g. rounding up or down) as it is unknown if they were blinded until final review.
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) All outcomes	Unclear risk	—
Selective reporting (reporting bias)	Unclear risk	Comment: We did not identify a protocol.